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After bleeding recruits for the past couple weeks, Northern Illinois has gained two recruits in two days. Yesterday, it was announced that CB Albert Smalls chose NIU and today, according to 247Sports, Ezra Safford will also be a Huskie next year.
Safford, a 5-7 wide receiver from Dwyer High School in Palm Beach, Florida, is unranked from 247Sports but ESPN has him as a three-star recruit and ranked as the 121 best WR in this year's class. Safford also had offers from Arkansas, NC State, Western Michigan, and Wyoming.
Despite being on the small side, Safford is a quick, tough receiver who usually is able to make the first tackler miss. He has a quick burst off the line and can get separation from most DBs easily. Along with his talent as a receiver, he has also proven he is more then a capable punt returner.
He is the 17th player, and is the fourth receiver, the Huskies have signed so far, joining David Senior, Kenneth Rawls, and Christian Blake (who are all rated as two-star prospects according to 247Sports). With so many receivers joining the team, and him being the smallest of them (by at least 4-inches), a position change to running back might not be a bad option, as Akeem Daniels and Cameron Stingily will be leaving after this year. But he has the ability to make an immediate impact at NIU, as his skills as a WR would make him a prime contributor on jet sweeps and bubble screens.